Cops & Doughnuts to praise man who saved newborn

A Macomb County man who saved a newborn baby’s life will make a stop at Cops & Doughnuts Saturday, where local law enforcement officials will recognize him for his efforts.

Ryan Cornelissen, a criminal justice student at Mott Community College, will get praise and gear from Cops & Doughnuts, the Clare bakery owned by police.

Cops & Doughnuts Vice President Alan White said Cornelissen deserves credit for stopping to help a flagging motorist in Macomb Township after his wife had given birth on the way to a hospital.

Cornelissen called 911 and followed instructions given by a dispatcher to aid the infant, who was not breathing, March 16

White, who said Cornelissen is scheduled to stop by the bakery at 1 p.m., was able to get the premature infant breathing with the help of the dispatcher.

The man who flagged Cornelissen down, a Vietnamese immigrant, spoke little English but was alarmed and handed his cell phone over, the Macomb Daily reported.

Dispatcher Steven Kukuk was on the line, and Cornelissen saw the mother holding the 3-pound, 8-ounce baby girl, wrapped in a blanket, quickly saw that the baby was not breathing, according to the Macomb Daily.

Cornelissen was on Garfield Road, on a trip to a bank, when the man flagged him down.

Trained in three categories of CPR, Cornelissen was in the middle of a chaotic scene, with the panicked father, ringing cell phones and cars going by, the Macomb Daily reported.

That’s when Kukuk gave Cornelissen instructions, telling him to keep the infant’s head and neck supported, rub her back, and inspect her mouth and throat for obstructions, the newspaper reported.

With the infant not responding, Kukuk told Cornelissen to give the baby “rescue breaths.”

A short time later, the baby responded, and paramedics soon arrived to take over, according to the newspaper.

Last week, Cornelissen met the couple at their home, where they showed him pictures of their daughter.

With the parents heaping praise on Cornellisen, including the mother wanting to be part of her daughter’s life, the owners of Cops & Doughnuts thought it appropriate to give more kudos.

(Susan Field can be reached at 989-779-6075, sfield@michigannewspapers.com or follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/#!/susan.k.field.)

(The original article on Cornelissen was written by Chad Selweski, a reporter at the Macomb Daily, a sister publication to the Morning Sun.)